Transcript
It’s time to begin our service.
I am so glad to have you here with us today, and I send you all my greetings and love. I want to make sure to specially send greetings today to the saints in Africa who I have had the opportunity to speak with over the past week. In Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, God bless each of you. And also send my greetings to the saints in Canada and Brazil who I have been working with this past week as well.
And as always, I want to send my greetings to all our friends at Faith Assembly and the many churches we fellowshipped with for so many years who are all so dedicated in tuning in to the lessons here. I know a lot of them have to find a way to sneak away and listen secretly because if their leaders find out, or even some of the people they live with found out, they would rat them out, and they would face a lot of persecution for listening here. So we send you our love and greetings, and know that we are praying for you all.
And as we begin today, if this is your first time tuning in and you wonder who we are and what we are up to, I and most of our listeners here are formerly members of the cult following of William Branham known as The Message. The Message is a global doomsday cult that started right here in Jeffersonville, Indiana. I am formerly the associated pastor of the second oldest Message church in the world, the original sister church of the Branham Tabernacle. And this is a little mission we operate to offer encouragement to the many people who are exiting the Message and to also take some time for a look at the plain reading of Scripture as we seek to understand the difference between the lifetime of indoctrination most of us endured and what is actually written in Scripture.
And today, we are back in the book of Ephesians. I am sure that is no surprise to you if you have been following along. We wrapped up a series on the book of Romans last year, and we have been here in the book of Ephesians since October, just working our way through a few verses at a time. And today we are in chapter four. I invite you to open your Bible and follow along. We are focusing especially on verses 15 and 16 today, but I will read starting at verse 14. The Apostle Paul wrote:
“14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Ephesians 4, ESV
Let us pray:
Lord God, we thank you for all that you have done for us. And as we approach the Scripture today with a humble heart that desires to learn, we ask that what we know not, teach us; what we have not, give us, and what we are not, make us. This we ask for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Introduction
Well, brothers and sisters, it’s good to be here with you again, and I am happy to have another opportunity to examine the scripture with you. We are very much continuing on from our last lesson today. If you will recall from last week, we are examining the very of Paul’s digression here in the first half of chapter 4. This is the longest digression of Paul in the entire book of Ephesians, and it’s so long, it can be easy to miss the fact that it even was a digression at all. But starting in verse 4 and coming down here to verse 16, Paul has been making a digression away from his main topic. And his main topic, starting in verse 1, is Christian behavior and Christian conduct. He opened his explanation of Christian conduct by speaking first and foremost about the fruit of the spirit: love, peace, humility, and kindness. Those are among the fruit of the spirit, and Paul brings attention to those points because he is asking the Ephesians to get along with each other, to work together with each other, and to maintain a peaceful relationship in their Christian community.
And then in verse 4, Paul breaks away into his digression, and everything he has said in this digression is aimed at giving them additional background information. And as Paul begins to end his digression there in verse 14, he uses the word “SO.” A simple two-letter word. And he says so, or therefore. And in these last three verses of his digression, he explains why he made the digression. He did it, first of all, so that they won’t be tossed to and fro by doctrines and teachings. We know especially from the places we come from that doctrines, teachings, and revelations are probably the number one cause of divisions in our churches. People get certain ideas, and then cause divisions, they separate people, they cause stirs and problems. They do exactly what verse 14 is talking about, they cause people to be tossed to and fro by waves and winds of doctrines. But Paul explains to us in verse 14 that he made this digression so that the Ephesians could avoid falling into that sort of thing. And as we studied through those verses, we can see that Paul laid down some guidelines around doctrines and around what preachers who came after the first generation can and cannot do and preach.
In verse 4, 5, and 6, Paul laid down the essential elements and doctrines of our faith. Those two verses are things which are non-negotiable. Someone who lacks the beliefs of verse 4, 5, and 6, we couldn’t really say someone who lacks those beliefs are really even a Christian. But we also recognize that anyone who is saved by Christ – they have all the beliefs of verse 4, 5, and 6 from the moment they are saved. And Paul lets us know those things are essential non-negotiables things we have to believe in. And then in verse 8, 9, 10, and 11, Paul told us that Christ appointed certain ministers between the time of his resurrection and before the book of Ephesians was written. Paul is speaking there about the very first generation of Christian ministers, in those verses. And he goes on to tell us, in verse 12, that the very first generation of ministers had a special mission to equip all the saints who would come after to be able to do the work of the ministry. They left us the books of the New Testament, and through their writings, each generation of Christians is equipped directly by the first generation. Generation 2 was equipped by generation one, and generation 10 was equipped by generation one, and generation 50 is equipped by generation one, and on down to today. We are all being equipped to the work of ministry by those ministers of the very first generation. And we don’t need to look anywhere else to be equipped with anything else. The essential beliefs, the essential doctrines, the essential practices, we can get all of those things from the plain reading of their New Testament writings.
And so when we come to verse 14, and Paul says, so that we no longer need to be tossed to and fro by winds of doctrine, that is what he is following up on. We don’t need to chase new preachers with new special revelations, we already have everything we need right in the Bible. And so, that eliminates one of the big sources of division that can occur. Things that are not clearly in the Bible, things that are not plain, those are things that are simply not important, and we really don’t need them. The plain things are the main things, and if it is not plain, then it is not important for it to be plain. Otherwise, the first generation of preachers would have made it plain because it was their job to equip all the rest who would come after to do the work of the ministry.
Rather
And that is where we left off in our last lesson, as we examined verse 14. Let me read that verse to you again:
“Now in the next verse, verse 15, Paul is going to talk about what will be produced when we follow the recipe for success he has given in the earlier verses of his digression. If we will stick with the plain reading of the Bible and what that first generation of ministers equipped the church with, it will produce verse 15 and 16.
“Now I am using the English Standard translation. But depending on which translation you are reading, the very first word of verse 15 will be different. In this translation, it says, ‘rather.’ In other translations, it will say, ‘but’ or ‘instead.’ And whether you say ‘but,’ ‘rather,’ or ‘instead,’ it lets us know that verse 15 is a contrast to verse 14.
“This is in some ways the opposite of verse 15. Speaking the truth in love is the opposite of verse 15. Tossing people around with new doctrines, new revelations, and new winds and waves of things we cannot find in the Bible—someone who is doing that is NOT speaking the truth in love. If they are preaching something you can’t find in the Bible, they are not speaking the truth in love. If they are preaching something you can’t find was preached by the very first generation of Christian ministers, it is not speaking the truth in love.
“And that is a really big statement I am making there. We know that all scripture is profitable for doctrine and for reproof. And so if it’s in the scripture – it is something that should be taught and something we do need. But if someone is going on about things that are not in the plain reading of the scripture, then they are at risk of producing verse 14. But if we will stick with the scripture, we will instead have verse 15 and 16.
“And Verse 15 and verse 16 is what Paul wants. And in fact, verse 15 and verse 16 are the entire purpose Paul made this long digression. Because he is trying to explain to the Ephesians that they need to get along with each other, love each other, and keep peace with each other. And part of the way they were to keep peace with each other was to not fuss and fight and feud over things that are irrelevant.
“One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one spirit, one God, and father of all. Those things are not irrelevant. Those are necessities. But if we can’t find it plainly taught by the first generation of Christian ministers, then it is not a necessity. You don’t really need it. And it’s not something that we should fuss or fight or feud or divide over.
“And if we will read all these verses together in context, that is exactly the point Paul is making here. Don’t fuss and feud over things the first generation never taught.
“The blood moons, the shmita, the jubilee, 2004 and ½, the two days, the third day, the miracle war, and a thousand other things I can say—they are irrelevant. They have no value. They give no value. They only cause verse 14. And the people who cause verse 14 are not the apostles, prophets, and pastors of verse 11. People who cause verse 14 are children who need to grow up. But those who have settled on the scripture and quit chasing mysteries and revelations that are not plainly written in the Bible—they will produce verse 15 and 16.
“And verse 15 and 16 are exactly what Paul was talking about in verse 2 and 3, before he started this digression.
“Why don’t we read it together? And I think it will help you see that.
“I will read verse 1 to 3. And then I will skip over the digression and come to verse 15 and 16. And just see how Paul has come right back to his main topic.
“At verse 1 Paul says:
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
“Now, jump to verse 15.
15 …, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
“Now, I think you can see how Paul is bringing his digression home and coming back to the same topic he was on before he started the digression.
“And I know, maybe you wonder why I am putting an emphasis on this. It’s because no one ever taught us how to examine the flow of Paul’s writings in the places we come from. No one ever showed us Paul’s logic or his manner of writing. They tend to just grab a verse here or there and take it out of context. And I really believe that if you can see how this chapter flows, that is one of the best ways you can break the message indoctrination we received from this chapter.
“And it helps us realize that our leaders pretty well built an entire religion on the misreading of one of Paul’s digressions. And at the same time, they misread and misused what he wrote in verse 11, 12, and 13. They ended up creating the very disaster Paul warned the Ephesians about in verse 14.
“And I find that so ironic! In getting obsessed with verse 11, 12, and 13, they totally missed the entire overarching point Paul wrote these things down. And they ended up stumbling into the very thing Paul was trying to prevent. Instead of verse 15 and 16, they ended up creating verse 14.
“It is really unbelievable. And when you step back and think about it, this is the kind of trick only the devil could come up with. It’s kind of like Peter said in 2nd Peter. Peter said that Paul wrote some things that are hard to understand. And that unstable people can twist what Paul said, and when they twist Paul’s writings, it leads to destruction.”
Speaking the Truth in Love
So let’s turn our attention now to verse 15 and 16. Let’s walk through what Paul was after, let’s try to understand what Paul was wanting the Ephesians to produce. Verse 15 says:
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
“Now verse 15 has two things Paul wanted the Ephesians to be doing. The first thing is Speaking the truth in love. And if they did that, then they would also grow up into Christ.
And let’s talk first about speaking the truth in love. What is that? What does that mean?
Speaking the truth in love is something that should define our entire mode of operation. The love of God should define our being and our character. And the love of God and the love for our neighbors should be the thing to guide our actions and our behavior.
And, like I already pointed out, when that love guides our actions and behaviors, the first thing we can say is that we will not behave like verse 14. We are not going to be breaking up homes and families, separating people, causing divorces and suicides, and driving people crazy by preaching things that cannot be found in the plain reading of the Bible. Because, if you love people, you are going to recognize what you are doing is hurting them.
You know, I spent my entire life in the message. But I was 30 years old when I started preaching. And, the truth is, it took about three years of me preaching to start to realize some of these preachers are hurting people. When you actually would counsel with people, and see the effects it had on them, you started to realize that some of this stuff was really causing problems.
And for me, I think it was the suicides that were the hardest to handle. And you have people who are deeply suicidal. Some of them even did commit suicide. And they are coming to church, dedicated, looking for answers and help. But instead of answers, the church is destroying them. It is tearing up their homes. It is telling them they are not good enough. It is telling them they can’t make it. It is telling them all kinds of things that are not in the Bible. And unless they can understand all these complex teachings that are not really in the Bible, they are not going to make it. And unless they keep this long list of rules that are not in the Bible, they are not going to make it. And they put weights on the people, weights to understand mysteries and to keep rules that just are not in scripture. And they do it to the point that it does literally kill people. It literally kills them, and we had to have their funeral and bury them. And I was preaching funerals too. I got to see all this firsthand.
How can someone have love in their heart, and do that to other people? How can you love your neighbor, and then pile weights on them until they literally die? How can you do that?
Speaking the truth in love is going to guide what we say and how we say it. Love is going to guide both what we do, and how we do it.
And that is something especially leaders in the message seem to totally miss. Love is not merely guiding what you do, it also guides HOW you do it.
And just think about this with me. Love is patient, love is kind, love is humble. Love is not puffed up. Love from not behave itself unseemly. Love endures all things. Love hopes all things. Love never fails.
That is love. And we all know, there is a loving way to do things, and then there’s an unloving way to do things. There’s a loving way to give people bad news. And there’s an unloving way to give them bad news. There’s a loving way to encourage a person. And then there is an unloving way to encourage them, which really just discourages them. There’s a loving way to help your neighbor. And then there is a rude way to help your neighbor.
And we all know the difference between something that is done lovingly, and something that is done rudely. We know the difference between being loving and being harsh.
And as individuals, we should seek not only to love our neighbor, but also to do things in a way that is defined by love.
And if those attributes are guiding the way a preacher speaks, and behaves, and preaches, that should tell us something about how he is going to behave behind a platform.
And the truth is, a lot of message preachers behave like raving lunatics behind their platforms. Speaking the truth in love is the opposite of what they are doing. They are conducting their ministries like verse 14, instead of verse 15. And I have seen them. And I will say some names. You look at Donnie Regan. You look at Kevin Crase. You look at the apostle Roscoe. You look at men of that caliber. Their sermons are screaming, yelling, ranting, raving. And I have seen it with my own eyes. Sometimes they are literally foaming at the mouth when they preach.
It is an hour-long, screaming raving spectacle. Calling people fat. Calling people ugly. Needlessly insulting people. Going on with all kinds of things you cannot find in the Bible. In fact, half their sermons tend to be talking about themselves. And we know what Jesus said about that. He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory. But the sad truth is, literally half or more of the message preachers are just like that. They are raving ranting lunatics. Speaking the truth in love is the opposite of their sermon performances.
And then they will say – but love is corrective. And so, you are getting corrective love.
And, I will be honest, that boils my blood just a little bit. Because, when they say love is corrective – they are just grasping at straws to try and excuse their reprehensible behavior. Love is corrective – that is true. And that is exactly I am doing right here as I speak about these things. What I am doing right now, this is corrective love. Love is corrective. But love is patient, love is kind, love is not puffed up, love seeks not its own, love does not behave itself unseemly. And yes, love is corrective – but what they are doing when they rant and rave and scream and lose all self-control, they are behaving themselves unseemly. They are not showing patience or kindness when they are name-calling. When they spend half their sermon talking about themselves, they are seeking their own. But love does not do that. Love hopes all things. It doesn’t throw people out the door and kick their rear end on the way out. And say you are doomed. Love endures all things. Love never fails. Even after something bad happens.
But people in the message are under such a spell, that they can sit under people doing those sorts of things. And they are so blind – they can’t tell the difference between a preacher behaving like verse 14 and a preacher behaving like verse 15. And I would ask you, really simple. And I hope, on this side, we can start to get enough discernment about us that we can tell the difference between a preacher who lives in verse 14 and a preacher who lives in verse 15.
And that comes all the way down to us as individuals. It
Growing Up Into Him
And that is what will produce the second half of verse 15 when we speak the truth in love. When love guides our actions and behavior. When love defines our character. Then we will seek the good others. And then,
15 … we [will] grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Love in our lives will do that. It will produce the growth Paul speaks of here in verse 15.
And, let’s examine that next. What is growth? What does Paul mean, in this verse, when he says “grow up into Christ”?
And that is a really good question. Because, where we come from – these things had a very specific meaning. And, I am not going to explain it all here. But the way we understood these things was shaped by the manifested sons of God beliefs from the Latter Rain movement. And when you approach these verses from that vantage point, it takes you do.
And the truth is, this is not the first time Paul has talked about this in the book of Ephesians. Paul has talked about the body of Christ several times already. And he has talked about it growing already too. And If you remember, that was back in chapter 2.
And so, as we read here about growing up into Christ, we need to read it remembering what Paul already said about this back in chapter 2. So, let me turn back there, and read it, to refresh our memories. And I will read verse 15, down to verse 22. And as I read this, I want you to notice how Paul explains that this body grows. And you will see, the body is growing by adding new members, or new people to it. So let me read, verse 15 of chapter 2. Paul says:
15 [Christ] abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two [peoples, Jews and Gentiles], so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility [that previously existed between us]. 17 And he came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] who were far off and peace to those [Jews] who were near. 18 For through him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you [Gentiles] are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
So, you notice here in this passage Paul is talking about both Jewish people and Gentile people being joined together as part of the body of Christ. And we see in verse 21, the growing is happening by adding new people. As each new person is added, the body is growing. And Paul touches on this again over in chapter 3, very briefly verse 6.
And then, so when we come to chapter 4, and verse 15, we understand that Paul has already talked about the body of Christ growing. And what I want to make sure you catch, is that first and foremost – Paul is talking about the body growing through adding new member. His primary meaning, when he talks about growing into the fullness, or growing up into Christ, is that this growing is happening by adding new people to the church.
And I think it is important to notice that. And especially to notice that, when Paul talks about the fullness – that seems to be specifically what he is talking about. The fullness is talking about the body of Christ itself growing to completion, in terms of reach all the lost who are to be added to the church.
15 … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Christ was a complete man, a full man. He wasn’t missing parts of his body. And when we as a church grow up into him, or grow up to look like him, we are not going to be missing parts. All the missing parts will be added.
And so, when we look at this way, you cannot separate growing into the fullness or growing up into Christ as something separate and distinct from reaching the lost with the gospel. Growing happens, first and foremost, when new people are united with Christ through saving faith. And they become part of his body.
Let me take you back to chapter 1, and I just want you to see this is how Paul has talked about this from the very beginning of this epistle. Back in chapter 1, let me read verse 7 to 10. Paul wrote:
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known[c] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
So just catch the language there. At the fullness of time – all things are going to be united with him. And that is how we become part of the body – by uniting with him. And Paul is looking off into the future in these verses, to the fullness of time when that will be completed. And everyone will at last be united with Christ.
And jump down to verse 22, and read the last two verses of chapter 1. There Paul said:
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
So do you catch that? Paul again speaks here of the body and the fullness. And the way these things string together, it paints a very clear picture that Paul is talking about the body of Christ growing and growing and growing. And it grows when new people are united to Christ. And eventually, it will be totally grown. And when it is totally grown, then the body has the fullness, or the completion. It is fully developed with all its members.
And, I am emphasizing this point, again, because I really want you to see that in chapter 1 and chapter 2 and chapter 3. This growth, and this fullness that Paul is talking about is very clearly a growth in numbers. A growth of adding new members.
And when we come over to chapter 4, we can’t just change the definition of all these things. If the fullness, and growing, in chapter 1 and 2 and 3 is first and foremost about adding new members to the body. Then we have to read this growing and fullness the same way when we get to chapter 4. And with that in mind, let me read verse 15 and 16 again from chapter 4. Paul wrote:
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Now, when we read verse 15 and 16 that way, where this growth is first and foremost about adding new members, it puts an entirely different light on this passage than how we understood it in the places we come from.
Because in the places we come from, we read these verses to be speaking not about the growth through adding new members. But we through this was talking about us growing as individuals. Individually, we were growing up be like Christ. That is how we took it where we come from.
But this is not really about growing up, individually, to be like Christ. It is about us the church as a whole entire body, growing to be a complete body. Like Jesus’s complete body when he was on earth.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Now notice, in verse 16, this is also clearly talking about the growth of the body as a whole. Not individual members.
Verse 6 says, when the body parts are working properly, it makes the body grow.
And, in Paul’s analogy – the people are the parts of the body. And so, if Paul was talking about growing as individuals, this would read differently. He would say it more like this. From whom the whole body joined and held together by every, when each part is working properly. Will make the joints and parts grow. But notice he doesn’t phrase it that way. Paul is not talk about the individual parts or the individual joints growing. He is talking about the body as a whole growing.
I hope that you can see that. If you don’t, that is ok. Go back and just read how Paul talks about this in chapter 1 and 2 and 3. Maybe go back and listen to the lessons we already covered on those passages. And see if that will help. But if you can see that. If you can see that Paul’s emphasis here is on growing numerically, by adding new members. That can really help to break some of the indoctrinations from the places we come from. This is not about you growing into the stature of a perfect man, as an individual person. This is about growing the corporate church into completion.
Working properly
Now as I say all that, I want you to understand, there is still such a thing as growing as individuals. Absolutely, that is true. As Christians, we do grow as individuals too. And I don’t want to leave you with the idea that you and I do not grow as Christians. Because we absolutely can and do grow. But that is not really what Paul is talking about here. He is not really talking about that kind of growth. Instead, he is talking about the growth of the church as a whole. Not growth as individuals. And it is mixing those two things up that we ended up with such a wrong understanding of this passage in the places we come from.
Now, there one hint in verse 16 where does speak to personal growth. And I want to make sure I point that to you too. In verse 16, Paul says:
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
And if you caught it, the part that speaks of personal growth is where he says, each part must work properly. That part does come down to us as individuals. You and I must work properly, in the church, so that body will grow. If we are not working properly, then the body will not grow.
If we are not working properly, we are going to get stunted growth. We are going to get Peter Pan syndrome. The body won’t grow up. And so, that is on us. It’s on you and me to work properly.
And in that, we can grow as individuals. If we are not working in the way that we should, we have room for improvement.
And now, a very natural question we might have is: How do we know if we are working properly? How do we need to work, to work properly? What is the way we need to do things, in order for us to make this body grow?
And that is a simple question, isn’t it? And it’s an honest question. And we really need to know the answer to that, don’t we? I don’t know about you – but I want to work properly. I want to be what God wants me to be. I am not a person just trying to coast along. I really want to be what God wants. And here it says he wants us to work properly. So I really want to understand – what does it mean to work properly?
And as we might wonder that – the natural thing is to look at these scriptures. To look at the context of verse 16, and see, what is Paul telling us it looks like when we work properly? What does it mean to be working properly?
And, very clearly, the context here is that Paul is talking about love. Showing love is what it means to be working properly. If love is guiding you and defining your actions and character, then you are working properly.
Speaking the truth in love. And we notice, that is exactly how Paul ends verse 16. Clearly letting us know, that is showing love that proves we are working properly.
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Its love. Its love – the same thing Paul started out chapter 4. The same thing which he ended chapter 3 praying for the Ephesians to have. He started out this chapter calling on the Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling. And to do that, they needed to love each other, to get along with each other. To keep peace in their community. And that is where he ends up at again as we come to verse 16. If we follow the teachings of that first generation of ministers, that they wrote in the bible. If we let them equip us for the work of ministry. Then we are going to love one another. We are going to speak the truth in love. And as love defines our lives, and our character, and it guides our actions. Then the body of Christ is going to grow. New members will be added to it. And eventually, the body of Christ will reach the fullness, when the very last members are finally added.
And until that happens, we need to try and live in verse 16. Each part of the body needs to show love, and be guided by love. And as we do that, the body will grow. And this is where the true mature church lives. The members of the church who are mature, they are living out verse 15 and 16. And people who are immature, they are stuck in verse 14.
And whether we are in the message. Whether we are out of the message. We can stay immature, and we can remain stuck in verse 14. Leaving the message does mean people grow up into mature Christians. There are people who leave the message, and they do grow into maturity. And there are people who can stay stuck in immaturity and stunted growth. We can leave the message and still be the kind of people who fuss and feud and make divisions and carry people around over things that are not in the plain reading of the bible. Or we can choose to grow up. And we can start living verse 15 and 16. And we can realize, love really is the centerpiece of the Christian life. Being loving people is really, first and foremost, what Jesus Christ wants from our lives.
Love and all of its attributes are the fruit of the spirit. That is truly what proves we are Christians. Jesus said, by this shall men know you are my disciples. Because you love one another as I have loved you.
Encouragement
As I bring this lesson to a close. We have finally reached the end of this really long digression Paul started in verse 4. And we have spent seven lessons on it. And, we are going to continue on to verse 17 in a couple more lessons. But, before we pick up in verse 17, and resume looking at Christian conduct. There are a few more things I think we need to cover from these verses.
And next time, I want to go back, and spend some more time dealing with the so-called five-fold ministry. Now that we have walked through all these verses together. And, I want to try to touch on some questions and points I think are important to be made. And, if you have questions from this passage of scripture, and want to send them in to me. Then in the next lesson, if I have an answer, I will try to include that into the lesson.